Container opener



March 13, 1956 F. F. WUNDER 2,738,096

CONTAINER OPENER Filed July 31, 1953 INVENTOR.

Frank]? Wu rider,

United States Patent CONTAINER OPENER Frank F. Wunder, Valley Falls, Kans.

Application July 31, 1953, Serial No. 371,462

3 Claims. (Cl. 220-47) This invention relates to container openers and more particularly to an opener for containers provided with a tear strip.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, rugged and economically manufacturable device capable of being mounted upon a surface having a clamping jaw or vise action to grip the end of a tear strip about a container and cause the strip to be removed quickly and easily without injury to the hands of the user as may be the case when the usual key is employed to open this type of container.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an opener for the tear strip type of container which comprises a minimum number of movable parts and in which the various elements may serve dual purposes.

Briefly, the above objects are carried out in the present device by providing an angular bracket member, one arm of which is to be secured to a supporting surface and the end of the other arm forming a fixed jaw or vise element, an elongated strip of resilient material carried at one end by the bracket member and having its other end constituting a movable jaw or vise element so that a tear strip of a container to be opened may be gripped therebetween, and means provided causing the movable element to move towards the fixed element.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, forming the specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an opener embodying this invention having a tear strip of a container gripped between its jaw elements;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial elevational view of the jaw or vise elements of this device;

Figure 4 is a partial bottom view of the fixed jaw or vise element; and

Figure 5 is a partial top plan view showing the gripping portion of the movable jaw or vise member.

With reference to Figure 1, there is provided an angular bracket member generally indicated at 10, having arms 12 and 14. Arms 12 and 14 are integrally joined, as at 16 which forms the juncture of the two arms, and each of the arms terminates in a free end 18 and 20 respectively. Arm 12 is adapted to be supported upon a surface, such as wall 22, by any suitable means, such as the screws 24.

The free end 20 of the arm 14 provides, in effect, a fixed clamp portion 26. The fixed clamp portion 26 defines one jaw or vise member which cooperates with a movable resilient clamp element 28 to receive and clamp the tear strip 30 of a container 32 therebetween.

Movable clamp element 28 comprises a strip of relatively thin resilient material of approximately the same width as the arm 14 of the angular bracket member 10, and as seen in Figures 1 and 3, extends slightly beyond the free end 20 of the arm 14. One end 34 lies adjacent the juncture 16 of the bracket and is supported by 2,738,096 Patented Mar. 13, 1956 the support lug 36 carried on arm 12 adjacent the juncture 16 of the arms 12 and 14 and extending in spaced relation to the arm 14. It will be noted that the space between the top surface of the support lug 36 and the underneath surface of the arm 14 is of such dimension as to snugly receive the end 34 of the element 28. Further, the element 28 is slightly bowed but extends generally parallel to the arm 14 having its ends 38 remote from the end 34 project slightly beyond the free end 20 of the arm 14. The outermost portion of the end 38 is bevelled annularly in the longitudinal direction of the element 28 towards the end 34 thereof, as at 40, to pro vide a sharpened edge 42 extending transversely of the element 28. The edge 42 is adapted to lift the end of the tear strip 30 away from the container 32 so as to eliminate the necessity for accomplishing this portion of the operation in removing the tear strip 30 by hand.

Adjacent the end 38 of the movable clamp element 28, a bolt 44 is carried thereon extending through a suitable aperture centrally intermediate the width of the element 28 and the bolt 44 extends through a suitable registering aperture adjacent the end 20 of the arm 14. A wing nut 46 is threadingly carried by the bolt 44 so that the bolt 44 carried by the element 28 is operatively connected to the fixed clamp portion 26, and by turning the wing nut 46, the movable clamp element 28 may be moved towards the fixed clamp portion so as to securely clamp the inserted tear strip 30 between the fixed and movable clamp members.

To remove the tear strip, such as tear strip 30, from a container, such as container 32, the end of the tear strip is lifted away from the container by the edge 42; the container may be supported upon or against the arm 12, as shown in Figure 1, and the container rotated so that the tear strip will be inserted between the fixed and movable jaw or clamping elements 26 and 28. The wing nut 46 is then turned so as to move the end 38 of the element 28 towards the fixed clamp portion 26 so as to clamp the inserted tear strip therebetween. With the tear strip securely clamped between the jaw members and the container supported about its periphery on the arm 12, the container 32 to be opened is then rotated in a clockwise direction and the tear strip will be completely removed from the container and held at one end in the container opener embodying this invention. The wing nut 46 may then be loosened, the tear strip 30 removed therefrom and suitably disposed of. The opener is then ready for successive container opening operation.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the container opener of this invention provides a simple and efficient clamping means to hold the end of a tear strip of a container to be opened, and will efficiently remove the tear strip without danger of injuring, as by cutting, the hands of the operator as is often the case when using the usual key-opening means provided with such containers. It should also be noted, that a minimum number of parts are employed, that the bracket member 10 not only provides for attachment to a surface so as to be supported thereon but also provides at the free end of one on the bracket arms a fixed jaw or clamp member. In addition, the arm of the bracket which is adapted to be supported upon a surface also provides a support for the container to be opened as it is rotated to remove the tear strip therefrom. The only moving parts involved in this opener is the means carried by the movable clamp element and operatively connected to the fixed clamp portion, bolt 44 and wing nut 46, adapted to move the movable element 28 toward the fixed clamp portion 26 so as to securely grip the inserted tear strip.

From Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that gripping surface 48 of the fixed clamp portion 26 may be knurled or otherwise roughened to provide a better gripping contact with an inserted tear strip, and the upper surface of the end 38 of the movable clamp element 28 may be similarly roughened to provide the gripping surface 50 which cooperates with the gripping surface 48 to clamp a tear strip therebetween. Figures 4 and 5 additionally show the apertures 52 and 54 adjacent the ends of each of the clamp elements respectively which are in register so as to receive the bolt 44 therethrough.

While there is shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the structure is susceptible to change and modification within the practicability of the invention and therefore should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. An opener for cans of the tear strip type comprising an angular bracket member having a pair of arms terminating in free ends, one of said arms adapted to be supported upon a surface, a support lug on said one arm adjacent the juncture of said arms and extending in spaced relation to the other of said arms, a fixed clamp portion at the free end of said other arm, a resilient movable clamp element extending generally parallel to and slightly beyond said other arm, said clamp element supported at one end by said support lug and its other end cooperating with said clamp portion to receive the tear strip of a container therebetween, and means carried by said movable clamp element and operatively connected to said fixed clamp portion to move said movable element towards said fixed portion to grip the inserted tear strip.

2. An opener for cans of the tear strip type comprising an angular bracket member having a pair of arms terminating in free ends, one of said arms adapted to be supported upon a surface, a support lug on said one arm adjacent the juncture of said arms and extending in spaced relation to the other of said arms, a fixed clamp portion integrally formed with the free end of said other arm, a resilient movable clamp element extending generally parallel to and slightly beyond said other arm, said clamp clement supported at one end by said support lug and its other end cooperating with said clamp portion to receive the tear strip of a container therebetween, and means carried by said movable clamp element and operatively connected to said fixed clamp portion to move said movable element towards said fixed portion to grip the inserted tear strip, and a roughened gripping surface on the clamp portion and on the cooperating movable clamp element.

3. An opener for cans of the tear strip type comprising an angular bracket member having a pair of arms terminating in free ends, one of said arms adapted to be supported upon a surface, a support lug on said one arm adjacent the juncture of said arms and extending in spaced relation to the other of said arms, a fixed clamp portion integrally formed with the free end of said other arm, a resilient movable clamp element extending generally parallel to and slightly beyond said other arm, said clamp element supported at one end by said support lug and its other end cooperating with said clamp portion to receive the tear strip of a container therebetween, a bolt carried by said movable clamp element and extending through said fixed clamp portion, and a wing nut on said bolt which when turned will cause the movable element to move toward said clamp portion to securely grip the inserted tear strip, roughened gripping surfaces on the clamp element and on the clamp portion, the end of said movable clamp element being transversely tapered to provide an edge adapted to lift the end of the tear strip away from the container, said one arm supporting the container as it is rotated to remove the tear strip therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 117,483 Terrell July 25, 1871 203,620 Henderson May 14, 1878 1,618,532 Hildemann Feb. 22, 1927 2,452,271 Sweet Oct. 26, 1948 

